Ice Age: Saber Sister
by Superfluous-Slytherin
Summary: How would Ice Age be different if Diego had a sister who he had to protect. Rated T because I'm paranoid and because there may be blood, a little bit of suggestion and slight language. Tora: tiger in Japanese (very original, I know)
1. Chapter 1

**What if Diego had a sister how are those have affected how the events of Ice Age played out? Blah blah it's an OC story I'm sure it's been done before but I'm sick and bored so here you have it. Idk if I'm going to go through all the movies or just this one so don't hold me to anything.**

 **Please forgive any mistakes. I'm going off of a script because I haven't seen it in a year or so. Tell me any inaccuracies and I'll try to fix them.**

 **I do not own ice age, only Tora and any characters I may add in later.**

 **Honestly I'm sorry I haven't been posting but I've had things going on in my life (mostly bad things) and I have been stressed so this is the first time I've gotten to write.**

 **Word count: 1,007 (honestly this is just an introduction. Hopefully the next chapter will be more)**

Diego could see Soto standing on the bluff. He padded over to join him and looked down at the human camp.

"Look at the cute little baby Diego!" Soto snarled.

"Do you think he'll be joining us for breakfast?" Diego asked, cruel amusement ringing in his voice.

"It wouldn't be breakfast without him. Especially since his daddy wiped out half our pack and wears our skin to keep warm." Soto was practically growling now and Diego couldn't blame him. The humans had ruined everything, tearing apart the very fabric of the pack.

"Alert the troops, we attack at dawn. Diego, bring me that baby alive. If I'm going to enjoy my revenge, I want it to be fresh." (Yes I know I skipped a little dialogue here, I didn't think it was truly important for this story)

A sudden commotion made the two turn. A female tiger with fur slightly lighter than diegos with a white stomach and paws stood over Oscar with Zeke and Lenny backing away from her. She snatched a bone off the ground, obviously one that Oscar had, and stepped away from him. Soto smiled at Diego as the female lay down and begin chewing on the bone.

"Your sister sure is something" he said watching the female. Diego eyed Soto before turning his gaze to his sister.

"I guess." He said warily. He was well aware of Sotos feelings for his sister. Even before the pack was destroyed he had followed her but she had always declined. Now Soto had gotten it in his head that she would help him rebuild the pack.

"Tora!" Soto called. The female dropped the bone and kicked it away before padding over to them.

"Yes Soto?" She questioned, meeting his eyes confidently. If any saber besides her or Diego tried this, they would be dead before they could blink. Diego and Tora were at the top of the pack, under only Soto.

"You and Diego will go for the baby. We leave at dawn." Tora nodded as Soto padded away. She moved to stand beside her brother and look down at the settlement. Diego sat down beside her and watched with his sister.

"Is this going to work?" She questioned and Diego shrugged. "Let's hope so." They sat in silence for a few moments before Tora stretched and Diego followed her example. As they padded to the base of the rock, Diego noticed Soto's eyes following them. He resisted the urge to growl but relaxed when Soto turned his head to sleep. Tora lay down and Diego beside her. She placed her head on his back and they drifted into sleep.

It was well before dawn when the tigers awoke. Tora and Diego stood at the hill before the raid, preparing for their mission. Soto gave the signal and they raced down the hill. The weight of several tigers caused pebbles to fall, waking the wolves, who growled and barked. Tora heard the humans before she saw them, emerging from their caves with weapons. The others lunged at the humans, distracting them, while Diego crept around one side of the fight and Tora, the other. They reached the human cave at the same time and entered, growling. Her brother was about to grab the baby when a female grabbed the baby.

Tora mentally hit herself for not noticing the female before hand. They gave chase as the human raced away from the fight with the baby in her hands. Tora, having always been faster than her brother, went around the human, allowing her brother the follow straight out. When they reached the river, Diego followed the human onto the rock as Tora hid under it, waiting. He reached for the baby, only to grab a necklace. The human tried to hide under the rock, only to be face to face with Tora. Never taking their eyes off the baby, they followed her across the water. In the seconds that it took, Tora was surprised her brother was willing to follow in water. The woman scrambled up onto a rock over the falls and Tora smirked.

 _Trapped_! She thought, thankful that the chase was over. As the two tigers advanced on the woman, she looked around desperately before hugging the baby to her chest. Only then did Tora realize what was going to happen. As she jumped, Tora cursed under her breathe. _Idiot_! She scolded herself. _Never underestimate what a mother will do for a child_. They raced back to the camp as the wolves were released on their packmates. Soto glanced up and stopped fighting.

"There Diego and Tora!" He called to the others. "Fall back!" The other tigers followed his lead and and met up with the siblings. When he didn't see the baby in either of their mouths he snarled, "Where's the baby?"

Diego lowered his head, as did Tora as he said, "We lost it over the falls."

"You lost it?" The started racing away as human spears rained down on them. "I want that baby!" Soto snapped when they stopped.

"We'all get it!" Tora snapped at the leader before realizing her mistake. She didn't shrink away, however, because she knew he could kill her if she did.

"You better." Soto snarled. "If you don't, you'll serve as a replacement Diego." He turned his gaze back to Tora and snapped, "As for you, I'll stop ASKING you and have my way with you!" He paused again We'll go up to half peak, meet us there. It had better be alive." He turned and bounded away, leaving the siblings staring after him.

"Can we trust you with that?" Oscar taunted, before following Soto. They watched the backs of their packmates for a moment before Diego nudged his sister. They raced off down the river, hoping to catch the baby before it drowned. They heard the humans follow their packmates but thought little of it, more focused on the baby. Little did they know, a certain mammoth and sloth were about to find just that.


	2. Chapter 2

**I know I only posted the first chapter yesterday but I just kept writing so here you go.**

 **Word count: 1,473** _Thinking_

 **I only own Tora, nothing else**

Tora and Diego made their way down the hill carefully. Tora paused as a confusing scent blew her way and she could tell Diego smelled it too. She glanced at him, wondering if her nose was deceiving her. Two different scents were mixing and blowing up to them, sloth and mammoth. They reached a place where they could look down and a strange sight greeted them. A sloth was trying to climb the waterfall with the baby in its arms. A mammoth was looking up at it and seemed to be talking to him. From their position, Tora realized, they could leap onto the mammoth or sloth and grab the baby. The baby started slipping out of the sloths grasp and Tora dug her claws into the ground, worry coursing through her. The baby was no use to Soto if the stupid sloth killed it before they could take it. The sloth had the baby in his foot and screamed for the mammoth.

Exchanging a glance with her brother, she leapt forward when the baby fell. Grabbing it in her mouth she whirled around, only to have the mammoth hit her and take the baby when she opened her mouth in shock. Diego took a swipe at the mammoth before it pulled away and looked as though it was going to hit him. Realizing this would get him nowhere, Diego cleared his throat.

"Umm, that pink thing belongs to my sister and I." Tora resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her brother's statement. _Honestly mammoths certainly aren't that stupid. No one would truly believe that it is ours._

The sloth, who was still clinging to the wall, laughed. "No, actually that pink thing belongs to us." As he said this, the sloth slipped and fell, landing on his head. It took great control for Tora to not laugh.

"Us?" She asked in amusement. Diego was smiling too and finished her sentence. "You two are a bit of an odd couple."

The mammoth glared at the sloth and snapped, "There is no us!" Diego rolled his eyes at the bickering 'couple'. "I see. Can't have one of your own so you want to adopt."

Tora tensed as Sid started to pull the baby away from them. "Look, I'm sorry to interrupt your snack, but we gotta go."

"The baby?" Tora cut in, jumping down to Sid's level, hoping to stall them. "Please, we were returning him to its herd."

The sloth scoffed and kept pulling the baby away. "Nice try buck teeth!" Diego growled and followed the sloth. "You calling us liars?"

The sloth gulped and leaned away from Diego. "I didn't say that!" Tora circled around him and rolled her eyes. "You were thinking it!" She growled. The sloth looked around and found the mammoth before stage whispering, "I don't like these cats, they read minds."

This seemed to remind Diego of the mammoths presence because he turned to him. "Names Diego, friend." Tora turned her attention away from the sloth and nodded to the mammoth. "Tora." She said quietly.

The mammoth glared at them before saying, "Manfred. And I'm not your friend!" Diego was silent for a second, obviously composing himself. "Fine, Manfred."

The sloth had picked up the human again and was walking away. Tora could practically see the wheels turning in her brother's head as he thought quickly. "If you're looking for the humans, you're wasting your time. They left this morning."

Tora nodded, although it did nothing to sway the mammoth. _Left_ she thought to herself. _Good choice of words Diego_. The mammoth turned away from them while saying, "Thanks for the advice. Now beat it, both of you!" He turned to the sloth and began arguing with him. As they turned and walked away, Diego growled darkly.

Tora nudged her brother, grabbing his attention again. "I know it's frustrating but calm down." They watched the pair walk away before Tora turned away, Diego following. They made their way up the cliff, leaping from rock to rock. They made it to the top a few moments after the mammoth and sloth. They stayed back and let them explore the camp. Only once they had truly realized the humans were gone did they come forward. The baby was sitting in the basket, watching them.

"I told you they were gone." Tora said, her paws crushing the bed that the baby was sleeping in not long before.

"Well look who it is! Don't you two have some innocent animal to disembowel?" Manny asked sarcastically. The sloth moved back and forth around the camp. "They couldn't be far." He said, looking around. "I mean, they went this way," he paused and looked the other way, apprehension in his voice as he said, "or this way."

Diego rolled his eyes at the incompetent sloth. "You don't know much about tracking, do you?" The sloth shrugged and picked up a stick that was lying on the ground, breaking it in half. "I'm a sloth. I see a tree, eat a leaf. That's my tracking."

Tora rolled her eyes and sniffed the ground carefully, pretending to look for clues. "You didn't miss them by much." She said. Diego picked up a stick and examined it carefully. "It's still green. They headed north two hours ago." The sloth picked up the sticks he had broken and stuffed them in his cheeks. "It's still green, they headed north two hours ago." He mocked.

Tora worked her claws in the ground but was careful not to let the mammoth see her. _Honestly_! She silently hissed. _How are we going to get the baby if this stupid sloth and mammoth are here_. The baby crawled out of the basket and hit a stick. A fish that had been abandoned shot in the air and flopped onto Manny's face. Tora fought the amusement as she stepped forward with Diego. She sat close to the baby, claws hooked around it's diaper.

"You don't need this aggravation." Diego reasoned, watching Manny closely. "Give us the baby." When he said this, Tora pulled the baby closer to her, almost against her chest. She knew it was risky but she was hoping the mammoth wouldn't go for him if he was so close to her. "We can track down humans a lot faster than you can." Tora's plan sadly didn't work as the mammoth pulled the baby away from her. "And, you two are just good citizens helping out?"

"We just know where the humans are going." Diego said, pulling the baby back towards them, ready to give it to his sister. "Glacier pass." Manny said. Tora cursed under her breathe at the mammoths reasoning. "Everyone knows they have a settlement on the other side." Once again, the baby was pulled away from Tora.

"Unless you know how to track," Tora said, trying to keep the annoyance from her voice. "you'll never reach them before snow closes the pass." Diego nodded and added, "Which should be, like, tomorrow." Confidence growing, Diego continued, "So, you can give that baby to us, or go get lost in a blizzard. Your choice!"

Manny lifted the baby up and swung it towards the two sabers. Tora opened her mouth to grab him, only to have it swept past her and into the arms of the sloth. "There's your little bundle of joy." Manny said as he avoided looking at the tigers. "We're returning it to the humans." Both tigers growled as Sid turned and smirked.

"The big, bad tigey-wigeys gets left behind. Poor tigey-wigeys." Tora growled and was ready to bite his neck when Manny cut in, "Sid, the tigey-wigeys are gonna lead the way." The sloth smiled nervously and waddled towards Manny saying, "Manny, can I talk to you for a second?"

"No"! The mammoth snapped. "The sooner we find the humans, the sooner I get rid of Mr Stinky Drool-Face, and the baby, too." Tora smirked as she followed the mammoth.

"You won't always have Jumbo around to protect you. And when that day comes, I suggest you watch your back," Diego growled. Tora smirked as she came up on the other side of the sloth. "Cos we'll be chewin' on it." She said with a threatening tone in her voice. "Hey! Uber-trackers!" The mammoth called. "Up front where I can see you two." Tora smirked as she heard Sid whine, "Help me!"

She and Diego padded in front of the mammoth as they continued on towards half peak. Tora glanced over her shoulder, watching the baby carefully. The sloth was still holding the baby, waddling quite slowly after the mammoth. Manny was watching them uneasily but it didn't seem like he was going to do anything to them. Exchanging a glance with her brother, she smiled. _This_ _might be easier than I thought_.

 **Review for a Diego plushi!**

 **Diego: What?**

 **ME: calm down you big baby!**

 **Exerpt from next chapter:** "Well, I'm not exactly lactating right now, pal!" Sid snapped before glancing at Tora. "I was thinking.." He never finished that sentence because Tora growled and unsheathed her claws. "Stop thinking


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: there are a lot of legal things I would have to go through. I do own copies of the movies though! Also, Tora is mine.**

 **Word count: 2,017**

The strange group walked quietly for the first hours of traveling. Tora and Diego led the way, silently and carefully. Unfortunately, because of Manny and Sid, they had to take very round about ways instead of going straight over the obstacles. This was frustrating for the sabers but the coped, mostly because they didn't want to give their unwanted companions any reason to be suspicious. Much to the annoyance of the keen eared sabers, the baby started crying. The sound was so loud and high pitched that the Tora was tempted to claw the baby then and there, but Sotos threats kept her from doing this. They kept walking, in the hopes that it would simply stop but it only got worse. Tora growled, flicking her ears as they came up on a flat stretch of land. They were all walking beside each other now and Tora could tell even Manny was getting annoyed by the baby. Sid tried to shift the baby around so as to calm him, but only managed to make it worse.

"You gotta make it stop. I can't take it anymore!" Manny snapped and Tora couldn't help but silently agree with him, although she would never admit it.

"I've eaten things that complained less!" Diego yelled over the crying. Tora bumped her shoulder against Diego's and sent him a glare. Come on Diego she thought furiously. Don't give them a reason to distrust us.

"He won't stop squirming!" Sid whined, holding the baby by his feet. Tora growled at the sloths stupidity. Even I can know how humans hold their young. "You're holding him wrong!" Tora snapped, startling the sloth. "Watch its head!" Manny called. Tora could practically see the baby slipping from the sloths grip and felt worry flash through her. _If this stupid sloth kills it I will personally give him to Soto._

"Just put him down!" She growled. Sid rolled his eyes and made his way to a flat rock. "Geez." Sid mumbled. "Pick him up, put him down." Tora couldn't help but give a small sigh of relief when he did gently lay the baby on the rock. The four animals surrounded the baby carefully, trying to figure out why he was crying.

"His nose it dry." Diego said, prompting Sid to say, "That means something's wrong with it." "Someone should lick it, just to be sure." Tora snorted at her brother's logic. "I'll do it!" Sid volunteered before Tora pushed him away with her paw. "Humans don't have wet noses idiot!" Sid lowered his head but moved back towards the baby anyway.

Manny suddenly piped up, "Hey, he's wearing one of those baby thingies!"

"So?" Sid asked in confusion.

Exasperated, Manny replied, "So when he poops, where does it go?" Sid held the baby away from him and both sabers took steps back. "Humans are disgusting." He said, lifting his nose in the air.

"Okay, you!" Manny said, pushing Sid with his trunk. "Check for poop." "Why am I the poop checker?" Sid whined. Manny pushed his face against Sid and practically growled, which surprised Tora. "Returning him was your idea, you're small and insignificant, and I'll pummel you if you don't!"

Sid chuckles nervously before whimpering, "Why else?" Tora was surprised Manny didn't explode and stomp on the sloth. "NOW SID!" Sid waddled over to the baby and began changing the kids diaper. He made a big show of saying "ew" every five seconds, much to the annoyance of the sabers. Leaning over towards Manny he mumbled, "I mean, my goodness!"

Removing the diaper, Sid held it an arms length away before backing away, sending words of warning to them. "Look out! Coming through!" Tora backed away as Sid swung the diaper around in their faces. "Watch out!" "Stop waving that thing around!" Diego snapped.

"I swear sloth, if that hits me.." Tora let her threat trail off as Sid seemed to hit a rock before he sent the diaper flying. Much to her amusement, it hit Manny in the face. As the angry mammoth flung off the diaper onto the ground, Sid giggled. "It's clean!" He called, picking up the baby again, who was still crying. "Gotcha."

Manny reached over with his trunk and smacked Sid on the head causing his tongue to flop out of his mouth. The baby paused in his crying and laughed but when Sid pulled his tongue back in his mouth, he continued to cry.

"Hey, do it again! He likes it." Diego said, coming closer. Manny hit Sid again, before laughing himself. "It's making me feel better too." Sid moved away from Manny toward the two sabers and held out the baby to Tora. "Here, you hold him." Before she could respond, Diego hit Sid over the head again. Much to Sids displeasure the baby started trying to hit him in the head and just as Manny and Diego had done. Sid and placed the baby down on the rock again, hoping to not be hit anymore.

"Turn him towards me!" Diego snapped, pulling the baby towards him. He pulled his paws over his eyes and started 'playing' with him. "Where's the baby?" He asked before showing his face. "There he is!" Tora couldn't help but smile. It reminded her of the way she used to play with Diego when they were cubs. "Where's the baby? There he is!" The baby started bawling again and Manny hit Diego. "Stop it! You're scaring him!"

A small growling came from the baby's stomach and silenced the beginnings of an argument. "I'll bet he's hungry!" Sid said, snapping his claws(fingers? Idk). "How about some milk?" Manny asked. "Oh, I'd love some!" Sid said happily. "Not you, the baby!" Diego snapped. "Well, I'm not exactly lactating right now, pal!" Sid snapped before glancing at Tora. "I was thinking.." He never finished that sentence because Tora growled and unsheathed her claws. "Stop thinking!"

Diego growled and pushed closer to Sid. "You're a little low on the food chain to be mouthing off, aren't you?" "ENOUGH!" Manny yelled, his voice echoing into the distance. Tora couldn't help but step back, fearing the rage of the mammoth. He seemed fairly peaceful but she had seen what mammoths could do to sabers, especially if they were mad. Manny's yelling seemed to do some good because a mellon fell out of a bush with a small thud, catching all the mammals attentions.

"Food!" The animals cried in unison. Manny picked up the melon carefully in his trunk and was about to bring it to the baby when a dodo peeked its head out of the bush. It clucked before grabbing the melon out of Manny's grasp and bouncing away. Tora tilted her head in confusion as she prowled after the strange little bird. They came upon a cliff overlooking dozens of dodos who seemed to be marching in lines.

"I don't know, but I've been told (I don't know, but I've been told) End of the world be mighty cold! (End of the world be mighty cold) Prepare for the Ice age! Protect the dodo way of life! Survival separates the dodos from the beasts! Protect the dodo way of life! Prepare for the Ice Age!" They chanted.

Tora couldn't help but feel slightly offended that the brainless birds called her a 'beast' but she chose not to think about it much. "Ice Age?" Sid asked in confusion, watching the birds.

"I've heard about these crackpots." Diego growled softly. "They think the end of the world's coming. That we are all gonna freeze." Tora informed the sloth. As she did so, her gaze drifted to a dodo who placed the melon they had seen next to two others on a flat rock. The dodo turned around, only to find itself in the shadow of a mammoth. He cried out, startled, before racing around the camp crying, "Intruders! Intruders!"

Much to Toras amusement (and subsequent astonishment) the dodo ran right into a geyser, burning and dying in a matter of seconds. The group made their way down the hill into the valley that was currently occupied by dodos. "Can we have our melon back?" Manny asked, addressing what seemed to be the most confident bird. "Junior's hungry and.."

"No way." The dodo said, bouncing forward. "This is our private stockpile for the Ice age. Subarctic temperatures will force us underground for a billion years." "So you got three melons?" Manny asked in amusement.

The birds glanced at the melons then back at Manny. "If you weren't smart enough to plan ahead, then doom on you." The other dodos began chanting, "Doom on you. Doom on you. Doom on you." The birds advanced on Manny who snapped, "Get away from me." "Doom on you." They continued to chant. Suddenly a melon rolled away from under the feet of a dodo and straight into the baby's hands. "Oh, no. the melon. Tae kwon dodos, attack." He cried before leaping in the air.

The dodos kicked the melon out of the baby's grasp and began tossing it from bird to bird until one accidentally threw it off the cliff. "The melon!" Several cried, following it over the cliff. Vaguely, Tora could hear a bird say, "There went our last female." Well, they're doomed. She thought in amusement.

Somehow, Sid was able to sneak behind all of the dodos and grab a second melon. Of course, the dodos realized within seconds and went after him. They bounced the melon several times before three caught it over the geyser. "I got it!" They each called before they slipped. "Don't got it!" The birds and the melon slipped into the geyser and Tora caught a whiff of burnt feathers.

"The last melon!" The birds exclaimed in unison. Sid held the melon in his paws tentatively. What happened next, Tora could hardly tell. The melon was tossed to Manny then to Sid again. Somehow, Sid was able to push past almost all the dodos while still holding onto the melon. He reached then and proceeded to do a victory 'dance' before slamming the melon on the ground. All of the animals winced as the melon split into pieces on the ground. "Ah Sid!" Diego snapped. "Now we gotta find more food!"

Much to their surprise, the baby crawled over to the melon and began eating it. Several dodos were balancing on each other's shoulders, trying to balance. "Right, more to the right. Right! Right! Right!" They called. "Look at that! Dinner and a show." Manny laughed. The dodos slipped over the edge one by one, much to the amusement of the sabers.

As the baby ate, the sabers slipped away, to the bottom of the cliff. The dodos were already dead when they reached the bottom, so it was easy to drag them away and eat them. They are quickly, knowing that Manny would get suspicious if they left for long. Tora satisfied herself with one bird, being smaller than her brother and also not wanting to be full and slow. When Diego had finished eating, Tora was cleaning the blood off of her paws. Diego followed her lead and cleaned himself. When he tried to clean his face, Tora laughed. Tora leaned over and helped clean clean his face and he returned the favor. When they reached the top of the hill the baby had just finished eating when the sabers returned. Manny looked at them in confusion but obviously decided to leave it.

Tora watched Sid pick up the baby and they continued onward. Toras thoughts drifted to Soto as they walked, growing closer and closer to the pack. Tora didn't know what she would do if Soto continued his advances. She doubted he would stop, even when they brought the baby. She was jerked out of her thoughts by Diego knocking into her. She realized she had slowed almost to a stop so she sped up to walk at her brother's pace. Whatever happened, she was thankful she had her brother on this mission with her, taking care of her.

 **Review for a frozen acorn.**

 **Sneak peak: "I have a message from Soto. He said, bring the baby or Diego can't come back and you," he said, turning to Tora. "Will be lucky if Soto keeps you around after you give him a litter."**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry this is so late but I had a stressful weekend. I'm going** **to try to start updating on sundays but if I have another weekend like this, I make no promises. Not the best chapter but enjoy!**

 **Word count:1939**

When they left the dodos they continued on their journey for the few hours that daylight had left. They didn't get very far but thankfully they were close enough behind the pack that the sabers could pick up a recent scent. Tora and Diego pulled ahead of their companions, with the excuse of scouting for a cave, to talk. They came up with a plan fairly quickly while also finding a clearing big enough for the mammoth to rest comfortably. They led the mammoth and sloth to the clearing as the sun set. It was barely dark when they reached it but the sabers pretended to settle down to sleep. Tora lay beside her brother with her head in her paws rather than her customary position on his back. She knew she would move with her brothers breathing so she didn't want to give the mammoth any reason to believe they were awake.

Tora had pretended to sleep since she was a cub, obviously growing better with age. The trick for her was to think of memories or dreams that wouldn't make her bored or make her want to move. Tonight, her mind drifted to Soto. He hadn't always been like he was now, especially not to her. Toras grandparents had created the pack but her aunt, who had been alpha, died before any cubs could be born. The alpha male took a new mate and had Soto. Tora and Diego were born only a moon (month) after him and they were close. They would play and hunt bugs and sometimes even sneak away from the pack.

Everything changed when Soto became a yearling. His father started training him to hunt, like all cubs, but he also taught him how to be alpha. Soto became cruel and conniving as he grew. They were almost two years old when Soto started padding after her. (Note, idk how sabers age. I'm saying yearling is about 10-14, 2 is about 15-18 and 3 is 19-23) He was still kind to her and tried to be her friend, but he grew frustrated with her denial. He became alpha when he was 2 1/2, his father being trampled by bison. He had only been alpha for about six months now and Tora could tell it did nothing to help his attitude. He was growing more and more treacherous by the day, even more so for revenge.

Tora was so lost in thought she didn't realize time had passed until she heard Manny telling Sid to stop making noises. It took a minute but she heard the mammoths breaths grow deep and even and she let a smile creep onto her face. In unison, the siblings green eyes snapped open, glowing in the dark. They padded to the mammoth silently, careful not to wake him or the sloth. As Diego reached out to grab the baby, a sudden noise startled the sabers, causing Diego to withdraw and Toras fur to stand on end. They crept towards the mammoth silently, careful of the mammoth as well as the sloth and even the baby, worried that anyone could wake up. Diego reached for the baby when a sound startled the sabers. Diegos paw withdrew and Toras fur spiked as they glanced around, before seeing the sloth snoring. As Tora let her fur flatten, Diego once again reached for the baby. The sound of an animal walking broke his concentration and caused Manny to pull the baby closer to him.

Diego glared around the clearing before Tora nodded towards a hill where the bushes were rattling. Diego crept forward and lowered himself into a hunting crouch and Tora mimicked him. With a growl, Diego pounced and Tora followed. They both landed on figures and as Diego raised his paw to kill them, Tora realized they were Zeke and Oscar.

"What the..?" Diego snapped at the incompetent saber. "Go ahead! Slice me, it will be the last thing you ever do!" Zeke taunted Diego as Tora backed off of Oscar. "We're working here, you waste of fur!" Diego snapped. "Frustrated Diego? Tracking down helpless infants too difficult for you and your pathetic sister?" Tora snarled at Oscar as Diego asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"Soto's getting tired of waiting." Oscar informed them. Zeke nodded enthusiastically. "Ya, Ya! He said, 'Come back with the baby, or Diego can't come back at all! And you," he said, turning to face Tora. "Soto said you have to come back, but you will be lucky if he keeps you around after you've given him a litter." Tora felt fear and disgust wash over her at that statement. "Well, we have a message for Soto." Diego informed them, walking to the top of the hill. "Tell him, we're bringing the baby, and tell him we are bringing a mammoth." Tora could feel the gazes of the two males on her as she led them up to her brother. "A mammoth?" Zeke asked in astonishment before Oscar snapped at him. "Mammoths never travel alone!" Tora rolled her eyes and pointed at Manny, who was still sleeping. "This one does, and we are leading him to half peak."

Zeke hummed at the sight of the mammoth. "Look at all that meat. Let's get him!" He started down the hill but both Diego and Tora leapt in front of him, stopping him. "Not yet!" Diego snapped. "We'll need the whole pack to bring this mammoth down." Diego started forcing Zeke back up the hill and Tora followed. "Get everyone ready." The two males hesitates, causing Tora to snarl, "Now!" Zeke took off running while Oscar took his sweet time turning and leaving. Tora wanted so much to swipe the smug look off his face but she resisted.

They watched the two sabers retreat before Diego turned back to the clearing. It took him a second, when he was about to go down the hill, until he realized Tora hadn't followed him and was staring past the clearing, at the horizon. He returned to his sister and followed her gaze. There were trees and plains of snow that looked untouched. They remained stationary for a few moments before she answered his unspoken question. "Do you ever think about what would happen if we just left. If we just ran and never came back." Diego blinked then shook his head. "Not really. Besides, where would we go?" Tora sighed as though she was talking to a child. "Somewhere the pack couldn't touch us. Somewhere they would never find us." Diego shrugged. "Sabers need packs Tora." "We could make our own." She said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Or we could not have one. We could take care of ourselves." Diego rolled his eyes and nudged her gently. "Let it go Tora. Come on, we need to sleep."

To be honest, Diego didn't know if he could survive without the pack. He had never thought about leaving, not even when Soto became alpha. He knew his sister had thought about it before, when Soto has become especially unbearable. Diego realized how much Soto's threat had shaken her because it had shaken him too. He led his sister down the hill carefully, aware of his sisters unattentiveness because she was still looking towards the horizon. When they reached the bottom, the view disappeared and Tora seemed to deflate. She hung her head as Diego lay down and lay her head on top of her. She sighed and snuggled into Diego's fur, causing him to smile. They had slept like this since they were cubs, when their mother lost their brother, a still born. She had moved them next to each other, and let them take comfort in each others presence. It had become a ritual for the two to sleep like this, and it seemed to keep them closer than most siblings.

Consciousness was beginning to slip away from Diego when he heard Tora's voice in his ear. It was filled with sleep but also worry. "Diego? If I left the pack, would you come with me?" Diego paused, the question jerking him back into the waking world. It was true that the pack was not always the best place to live but he liked it. He was in a high position and although most of the pack was gone he still had family. If Tora left he would still have his position and do well for himself but he would lose the only family he had left. He considered it for a moment before he replied. "Ya I would." This relaxed his sister as she closed her eyes and he felt her head grow heavy on his shoulders. He fell asleep, his eyes fixing on the baby a split second before his eyes closed. The baby was all Soto wanted. If Tora left to escape him, there was no doubt in Diego's mind that he would follow her to the ends of the earth. She was his sister after all.

Tora was awoken by the ground shaking, knocking her off of her brother, who had pounced to his feet. "Where's the baby?" Manny asked furiously. "You lost it?" As her brother and Manny had a stare off, Tora glanced around the clearing. "Where's the sloth?" She questioned, catching both males attention. "Sid!" They cried.

The sabers took an opposite direction than Manny, where the saber scents from the night before were. Manny didn't have the best sense of smell but he would most likely catch that sabers had visited last night. They walked for several minutes until Sid came running around the corner.

"Thank goodness!" Sid cried happily. "Oh no! Tigers!" He called over his shoulder. "Where's the baby?" Tora questioned. "Oh he's okay, he's with Manfred. Put me in your mouth" Sid begged before turning back the way he came and yelling, "Help, they've got me!" Diego growled and turned away from Sid. "Get away from us." Tora could hear the rumbling in the ground as Sid kicked her brother. The siblings instincts were perfectly tuned as the grabbed the sloth together. Sid's neck was in Diego's grip whilst Tora simply had a paw on his stomach, holding him down.

Suddenly, two rhinos rounded the corner. "Carl." One whined. "The tigers got to him first." The second rhino frowned and sniffed the sloth before backing away in disgust. "Yep, he's dead alright." The two turned away and Tora could hear them say, "Carnivores get all the fun!" Tora took her paw off of Sids stomach but Diego held him in his grip.

"Gosh, I hate breaking their hearts like that. But you know how it is." Sid tried to walk away but Diego held his jaws closed. "Alright, thanks. You can put me down now." When Diego still did not relent, Sid began to panick. "Tora! Tell your brother to let me down!" Tora only giggled at the sloths predicament, prompting him to tell, "Manny! Manny!" The mammoth rounded the hill, holding the baby. "Guys, I thought we were in a hurry. And Diego, spit that out. You don't know where it's been." Tora laughed once more as her brother dropped the sloth in obvious disgust.

"Boy. For a second there, I thought you were gonna eat me." Sid laughed nervously. Diego smirked and replied, "I don't eat junk food." Tora nodded in agreement. "Besides, I don't think he'd taste very good. Maybe we oughta try sloth sometime." She teased as they walked away. Faintly she heard Sid mumble. "Thought you were gonna...I thought you were gonna... Were you?"

 **Review to get a cookie shaped like a sloth**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Another chapter is here. I'm sorry for the poor quality but for some reason I can't write travel montages. Something really cool and really terrifying happened that also distracted me. I was walking with my mom and my dog and we came across a coyote/wolf. My dog chased it off but it was bigger than most coyotes and it just watched us. We got some pics and showed out neighbor (who hunts and sees them) and he said that it was a hybrid coyote/wolf. I'm terrified 1) because it didn't seem very afraid of us and just watched us and 2) because it's almost as tall as a lab/coonhound mix and she gets out of the yard all the time and we are afraid she will fight it or it's pack. Anyway, ignore my ramblings and enjoy! (If you wanna see pics of it, it's on my Instagram, raphael_t.m.n.t )**

 **I don't own Ice age. If I did, I probably wouldn't be stuck in high school, writing fanfiction.**

 **Word count: 1878**

The group continued to walk. Somehow, only minutes after they started, Sid fell behind.

"Come on! Wait up! Wait up!" He called as he struggled through the snow to follow them.

He had fallen so far behind that the animals had lost sight of him and stopped to wait. As they did, a geyser erupted beside them. Tora jumped at first but after it erupted several more times, she began noticing a pattern. From the way the males watched it, they took notice as well. Sid finally caught up to them with an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Thanks for waiting!"

The three larger animals exchanged glances with almost identical smirks. Granted, the sabers were more devious, the thoughts of the sloth flying high in the air, the three counted in unison, "three, two, one…"

The geyser erupted and Sid went flying high with a scream. "Sure is faithful!" Manny said as Sid dropped back onto the geyser painfully. The sabers and mammoth turned and walked away, leaving the sloth behind again.

Timeskip

Sid had taken to carrying the baby as Manny had grown quite annoyed with it. Tora could hear the two poking each other and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't make me reach back there!" Manny snapped

"Well he started it!" Sid whined, attempting to hold the baby away from him.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!" Manny said angrily. Tora rolled her eyes and exchanged glances with her brother.

"Or I'll finish it." She growled softly and Diego nodded in agreement.

Timeskip

They had reached an open field and Manny had taken the baby again after the 'poking incident'. A small flame popping out of a geyser cause the animals to halt in their steps.

To Toras surprise, a glacier slid past them and into the distance before the geyser shot another flame and they continued.

Timeskip

Tora could see the end of the field as they climbed on a large ice block that hung over a small cliff. The weight of the mammoth pushed it down so that the first side was off the ground and they could simply walk off. Sid, however, got knocked back off of it after Manny stepped off.

Timeskip

Sid, who was once again holding the baby, decided to make a snowball and throw it at Manny. Tora saw Manny glare over his shoulder and Sid pointed at the baby. She rolled her eyes and glanced at the rock formation beside her.

"Modern architecture." Manny scoffed. "It'll never last."

Timeskip

The two sabers has pulled ahead as scents of the pack grew stronger. Tora felt Diego freeze and followed his gaze. A saber paw print, clear as day, was in the snow. Tora mentally began running over how to hide it. She was about to place her paw inside it and act like it was hers when Diego swiped snow over it.

Tora watched in slight confusion as Diego drew in the snow carefully. She smiled as she realized he was drawing a human print. The others caught up and he pointed to the trail ahead. Somehow, Manny wasn't the least bit suspicious.

Timeskip

Tora laughed as Manny and Diego tried to stand on the ice. She wasn't much better but she attempted to stand. Spreading her toes and using her claws to grip, she was able to stand straight and walk/slide over to her brother as Sid skated past. "Hi Diego! Hiya Tora!"

Tora snorted as Sid skated circles on the ice with the baby on his head. Tora let her brother lean on her to stand up and they hopped off the ice with Manny. Suddenly, there was a thud and Sid hit the ice, dropping the baby. Tora carefully grabbed it and reluctantly gave it to Manny. "Hi Sid!" They called as they walked past.

Timeskip

They had reached several branching paths when Manny sighed. "You two are lost, aren't you?"

Tora had to stop herself from growling as she replied. "No! I know exactly where we are."

A small squirrel was messing with an acorn in the middle of the path as Manny pointed to it. "Ask him for directions."

Diego rolled his eyes at the mammoth. "I don't need directions!" He replied hotly. "Fine, I'll ask him." Manny resolved.

"Buddy. You see any humans go by here?" He called. The squirrel obviously couldn't talk because he began mimicking things.

"I love this game. I love this game. OK, OK." Sid was far too enthusiastic for Toras liking. "Three words. First word. Stomp. No, no. Stamp, stamp."

"Let me try. Pack." Manny cut in. "Good one, Manny. Pack of long teeth and claws." "Pack of wolves? Pack of…" "Pack of bears? Pack of fleas?" "Pack of whiskers? Pack of noses?" Diego and Tora were both getting agitated as the squirrel desperately pointed at them.

"Pachyderm?" "Pack of lies. Pack of troubles. Pack a wallop. Pack of birds." "Pack of flying fish."

Despite how outrageous their guesses were, Tora knew it was only a matter of time. She nodded to Diego and he swatted the squirrel away.

Timeskip

Sid had gotten dumped in snow by Manny who was now carrying the child. Before they could walk much farther the wind picked up. Sid had icicles coming out of his nose while Manny had them on his tusks. Both Diego and Tora had the on their sabers and parts of their fur. Tora was walking with her fur pressed against her brother, which didn't do much but it warmed them enough to keep walking.

Timeskip

Tora and Diego slipped away as the others rested. They were getting closer to half peak by the minute but they still needed to scout a route. Tora couldn't help but hope they could find a route that was less obvious so they wouldn't see the human herd. Her fears were justified as they came over a small bluff and saw the humans, trudging along in the snow. Diegos eyes widened and he looked around quickly. Tora eyes landed on a small entrance in the cliff. Her brother followed her gaze as Manny came into view. Diego bounded over to him, Tora on his heels.

"Great news. I found a shortcut." Diego called as they stopped in front of Manny. The baby slid down the mammoth's trunk but thankfully Manny caught him before he could hurt himself.

"What do you mean, shortcut?" Manny asked suspiciously. "I mean faster than the long way around." Tora informed him sarcastically.

"I know what a shortcut is." Manny shot back with a glare. "Either we beat the humans to Glacier Pass or we take the long way and miss 'em." Diego said. Tora could hear hints of desperation and frustration in his voice but she hoped Manny couldn't.

"Through there? What do you take me for?" Manny questioned. Tora growled softly, which caused the mammoth to look at her so she thought fast.

"This time tomorrow, you could be a free mammoth." She said, as the baby pulled on Manny's eyelid. "Or a nanny." She smirked. Diego mimicked her smirk as her said, " Personally I never get tired of peekaboo."

"Guys. Guys. Check this out." Sid called as he held two pieces of an icicle to his neck to make it look like he had been impaled. "Sid, the tiger found a shortcut." Manny informed him.

Sid looked at the entrance and gulped. "No, thanks. I choose life." Tora could tell Diego was itching to claw Sid's neck so she growled, "Then I suggest you take the shortcut."

"Are you threatening me?" Sid asked cautiously. Suddenly Diego snarled loudly. "Move, sloth!" He snapped. There was a large rumbling as the snow above began to fall.

"Way to go, tiger." Sid said sarcastically. "Quick. Get inside!" Manny called. The four ran quickly, getting inside the cave just before the opening was sealed. "I vote short cut." Manny said as he glanced at the icicles over head.

The four headed deeper into the cave silently. Tora and Diego both scented the air carefully and were relieved that there were no scents of other animals. Sid had somehow gotten distracted and almost lost them. "Will you keep up, please? Hard enough to keep track of one baby." Manny pleaded.

Suddenly the baby caught on a ledge and slid past them. He hung in the air long enough to wave before he dropped out of sight. The animals yelped as they looked over the edge and saw a spiral slide that the baby took. Tora leapt into the slide and heard thumps behind her as the males followed.

The baby's laughter was bouncing off the tunnels as the animals followed him. The tunnel split into several different forks, separating the two sabers from the baby and the others. They flew past each other and Tora saw Sid follow the baby, which didn't make her very confident. Diego scraped his claws on the side of the slide, trying to slow down. Tora simply let it take her, mostly because she didn't want to hurt her claws. She knew when they got out of this that Diego would pretend it didn't hurt but there was no way that his claws hadn't snagged several times.

The tunnel dropped suddenly onto Manny. Both sabers instinctually dug in their claws which caused Manny to gasp. A piece of ice stopped them for a moment before it broke under the weight of all of them combined. The baby streaked past them as the ice fell. "Oh no." Diego groaned as the ice slid down the tunnel.

They glided over ice spikes and landed in different 'lanes' of ice. Diego and Tora were on either side of Manny, with the baby beside Tora. She and Diego lowered themselves closer to the ground, much like a hunter's crouch, which allowed them to go quicker. Somehow, Manny was able to go even faster, which annoyed the sabers.

The baby slid up a piece of ice and flew in the air laughing. Manny swung backwards to catch him as Sid his a wall of snow. The sabers followed him closely as Manny caught the baby. They were buried in snow as the mammoth crashed into the snow.

Diego popped out excitedly, leaving Tora still buried beside him. She watched as her brother smiled. "Yeah!" He called. "Who's up for round two?" Before he could say anything else, Tora exploded out of the snow. She tackled him playfully, filling his face and fur with snow. She suddenly felt the eyes of the others on her and she backed off, letting her brother stand. She cleared her throat awkwardly, shifting her paws. "Tell… tell the kid to be more careful." She stuttered, pulling her face back into an emotionless state.

The mammoth began brushing snow off the baby as Tora turned her gaze to her brother. He was no longer smiling but she could see it in his eyes. She shook her fur and glanced at his paws. Thankfully they weren't bleeding but she made a mental note to check on him, as well as attempt to get him to smile more. Until this time, she hadn't realized how long it had been since she'd seen that from him.

 **Review for an icicle!**

 **Sneak peek (sorry I forgot last time): "Look! Look! Tigers!" There were indeed pictures of tigers on the cave wall. Tora felt sadness bubble up inside her as she looked at them. It appeared to be a whole pack, hunting. A sad smile came to her face as she remembered the last hunt she had gone on with her family.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: if you don't know it by now, I'll tell you again. Ice age: not mine This fanfiction: mine A chubby dog that annoys and loves me: mine**

 **Another chapter, FINISHED! I have actually had a good week at school. I actually have some plans for tmnt oneshots as well as ice age oneshots. I have already decided that I will be continuing with all 5 movies that are out right now (and possibly if another comes out). There will be a poll at the end of this story and at the beginning of the second movie/story. It is very important and will decide a piece of Tora's future so stay tuned.**

 **Word count: 1570**

The animals quickly left the ice cave behind. Thankfully, there was a route that led towards the outside. As they walked, ice became stone and paintings appeared. Tora felt the fur on her back spike at the eerie feeling of the cave. It was obvious that the others felt it as well because the scent of apprehension hung in the air.

Tora was surprised when Diego came closer to her. She had no idea if it was to comfort her or him but she was fine with it. They followed Manny as they picked their way across the cave. It opened up into a large room with paintings and drawings from top to bottom.

"Look! Look! Tigers. Yeesh." There were indeed pictures of tigers on the cave wall. Tora felt sadness bubble up inside her as she looked at them. It appeared to be a whole pack, hunting. A sad smile came to her face as she remembered the last hunt she had gone on with her family.

 _Flashback_

 _It was a fair day, and herds of deer were moving through the heart of the pack's territory to reach their winter grounds. Soto was still a new alpha but he was quite resilient and commanded the respect of the pack. He sent half of the pack to circle on side of the clearing where the deer were resting while he stayed with the other half. Toras family, being of a high rank and very good hunters, were with Soto._

 _Toras mother and father were eager to please, having just been promoted to beta pair, but they were still sensible. Tora and Diego carefully crept forward. Their job was to be ready in case the deer tried to run. The far half of the pack emerged from the grass with roars. Many deer scattered but the sabers only had eyes for one. They were a fair sized pack but the single buck they had seen was enough to satisfy them. As the other deer escaped, the buck panicked. He bounded to one side, only to be intercepted by Tora. Diego joined her and the pack encircled the deer._

 _It would have been easy for the sabers to charge it at once but they held back. Tora joined her mother and the other females, readying themselves. The males scratched at its haunches, attempting to bring it to the ground. Soto and Diego appeared at the head of the deer and Soto sent the signal. The females, lighter and able to jump higher, leapt and clung onto the back of the buck. As it tried to shake them off, Soto went in for the kill._

 _The pack ate well that night and slept soundly. Only two days later, the humans would destroy everything, killing the sabers in their camp and skinning them. Tora felt a strange pity for that her, the her who had not had a life touched in such a tragedy._

The baby made a sound of fear and buried his head in Sid's shoulder, knocking Tora out of her reverie. "No, it's OK, it's OK." Sid soothed. "Look, the tigers are just playing tag with the antelope. With their teeth."

Diego smirked and growled at Sid. "Come on, Sid, let's play tag. You're it!"

"Sure. OK, OK, OK, where are the sloths?" Sid said, backing away from the sabers. "You never see any sloths. Have you ever noticed?"

Tora shook her head at the sloths actions as Diego sent her a worried glance. Sabers were good at reading each other so Tora knew what he was asking. -Are you alright?- Tora simply nodded and watched the sloth move around the cave.

"Look, Manny, a mammoth!" Sid cried happily.

Manny approached slowly, annoyance at the sloth radiating off of him. "Somebody pinch me." He said sarcastically.

"Hey, hey, this fat one looks just like you." Sid mused. "And he's got a family. And he's happy. Look, he's playing with his kid. See? That's your problem. That's what mammoths are supposed to do."

Both Diego and Tora saw a faint, teary eyed look come over Manny. "Sid…" Diego called softly but to no avail.

"Find a she-mmoth, have baby mammoths…" Sid continued.

"Sid." Tora said firmly.

Sid glanced at her in confusion. "What?" He questioned.

"Shut up." She commanded.

"But…" Sid started to argue but obviously thought better of it as he noticed Manny's expression.

Tora's eyes strayed to the last picture and she wished they hadn't. Humans held the female and baby at spear point, their backs against the wall. From the way Manny looked at the pictures, there was no doubt in her mind that this had happened to him.

As Manny tenderly touched the child mammoth, Tora felt a foreign pity inside her. The baby also reached to the painting, his hand brushing Manny's trunk. The baby fell and Manny caught him gently. As he raised him onto his back, it was apparently to the female why, however reluctantly, Manny had agreed to return the baby.

The mammoth and sloth headed towards the exit of the cave slowly. They both glanced at the mammoth pictures once more before standing up. Tora rubbed her cheek quickly over the saber drawings, performing a careful and strange scent marking. This marking had no real name but if it were in the language of humans it would be called the mark of family. No human would ever smell it but if any other saber happened to wander into this cave, they would know the memory was of something special.

Timeskip

"Would you look at that!" Manny marveled. "The tigers actually did it. There's Half Peak. Next stop, Glacier Pass. How could I ever have doubted you two?" The sabers remained silent as they walked, the cave paintings still fresh in their minds.

"Did you hear that, little fella?" Sid asked. "You're almost home."

Sid paused and looked at the ground in confusion. "My feet are sweating." He called.

"Do we need a news flash every time your body does something?" Tora groaned in disgust.

"Ignore him. His doing it for attention." Manny informed them.

" Seriously. My feet are really hot!" Sid whined as he caught up to them. Suddenly, the ground rumbled beneath them. The animals froze and glanced around.

"Tell me that was your stomach." Manny begged.

"Shh!" The sabers whispered, ears flicking.

"I'm sure it was just thunder." Sid consoled. "From underground?" Sid sounded very unsure now.

Fire erupted behind them, sending the animals running. As they ran, more fire came from the snow. The ice broke from under them, creating a bridge. The sabers were behind the mammoth, quickly growing frustrated at the pace. The ice broke from in front of the sabers, stranding them.

"Come on, keep up with me." Sid called, running in place on the ice.

"I would if you were moving!" Manny snapped as the sloth fell. Tora glanced the Diego as he jumped, landing easily on the ice. Tora followed, her paw slipping as she jumped. She landed behind Diego but managed not to fall.

"I wish I could jump like that!" Sid said in wonder.

"Wish granted." Manny yelled, knocking Sid forward.

"Tora! Go!" Diego called. Thankfully, Tora slipped past the mammoth before the ice beside him crumpled. She followed Sid and landed on the other side, turning and watching her brother worriedly.

"Come on, move faster!" Diego snapped.

"Have you noticed the river of lava?" Manny questioned.

Glancing down at the baby, Manny steeled himself and leapt. The impact of his feet hitting the ice caused the ice behind him to fall into lava. Tora paced forward, watching her brother with fear flowing through her.

Diego leapt with a cry, landing with only his front feet on the ice. Tora gasped and raced forward, only to be blocked by the mammoth.

"Hold pinky!" He called, shoving the baby to Sid. "You stay here!" He glared at Tora.

Manny inched forward and stretched his trunk out to grab Diego. The ice suddenly gave way, sending Diego down.

"No!" Tora screamed as Manny reached for her brother and thankfully caught him. Manny threw Diego over his shoulder, landing him beside Tora.

She immediately began examining her brother carefully, scared out of her mind. A scream of "MANNY!" drew her attention. As Tora looked at the cliff, Manny disappeared over the edge. A silence fell over the animals as Tora slowly looked away and began checking on her brother again. There were small spots of blood on his paws, obviously from ripping his claws in both the ice tunnel and the jumping.

A smoke screen suddenly sent the mammoth flying in the air before he landed on his side, very hard. Sid ran forward and called, "Manny, Manny, Manny, you OK? Come on, come on, say something. Anything."

A muffled sound came from Manny with no real meaning. "What? What? I can't hear you." Sid cried softly.

"You're standing on my trunk." Manny gasped.

You're OK. You're OK." Sid exclaimed.

"Why did you do that?" Diego questioned and Tora nodded.

"You could have died, trying to save my brother." She whispered.

That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other." Manny informed them with a kind look on his face.

"Well, thanks." Diego said awkwardly.

"I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I've ever seen." Sid laughed.

 **Review for a cookie. Also, if you incorporate the word "ninja" into your review, I will tell you the names of Tora and Diego's parents.**

Chapter preview: "Thank you. From now on, I'm gonna call you Tora…"

"Queen of 'get near me and you lose your head."

Sid laughed nervously and turned to Diego.

"And you will be called Diego…."

"Lord of 'Touch Me and You're Dead'."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! This almost didn't go up because I had a headache and I procrastinated the last scene. Warning: it will be emotional! One more chapter left! I honestly almost cried while writing this but that probably because I'm tired.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but I will take any tears shed in this chapter because it's better than nothing.**

 **Word count: 2370**

The wind had picked up since the mammals had left the cave, ice and snow fell from above and covered the pelts of the animals. The baby was pressed against Manny's back, desperately trying to avoid the wind.

"Guys, we gotta get this kid outta the wind!" Manny called.

The sabers slowed by an overhang and glanced around. They both knew they were getting closer to the pack with every passing second.

"How much further?" Manny questions as he drew up beside them.

"Three miles." Diego replied automatically.

Manny glanced around before he sighed. "I'm beat. We'll get there in the morning."

Tora nodded and turned to head under the overhang when she noticed Sid was drawing on the wall with a rock.

"What are you doing?" She asked, approaching the wall.

"I'm putting sloths on the map." He replied happily, examining his crudely drawn sloth.

"Why don't you make it realistic and draw him lying down?" Manny joked as he approached.

"And make him rounder." Diego offered, drawing a snort of laughter from his sister.

Manny grabbed the rock and drew an exaggerated circle around the sloths belly.

"Perfect!" Diego smirked.

"Haha," Sid laughed sarcastically. "I forgot how to laugh."

He began scribbling out the picture furiously. As he was about to lift the rock, sparks flew and hit a small pile of twigs on the ground. The twigs slowly crackled and caught before flames danced on them. Tora stared at the sloth in amazement as he kissed the rock.

"I'm a genius!" He cried.

The sabers slipped out from the overhang and collected sticks for Sid. While they were out, they looked for good but found that all other animals had taken shelter. The fire crackled and sparked as the sabers settled down beside the fire.

"From now on you'll have to refer to me as Sid, Lord of the Flame!" Sid called dramatically.

"Hey, Lord of the Flame, your tail's on fire." Manny said with a smile.

Sid gasped and ran in circles around the fire calling "hot hot hot". Diego and Tora reached out simultaneously and pulled the sloth into the snow beside them, putting out the fire.

"Thank you. From now on, I'm gonna call you Tora,"

"Queen of 'get near me and you lose your head."

Sid laughed nervously and turned to Diego.

"And you will be called Diego…."

"Lord of 'Touch Me and You're Dead'." After a pause, Diego chuckled. "I'm just kiddin', you little knucklehead." He pulled Sid into a headlock and rubbed it playfully. Tora couldn't help but smile at her brother's actions.

Hey, Lovebirds. Look at this." Manny called.

The baby had started wobbling forward on his stumpy legs. Manny steadied him and he slowly made his way to Sid.

"I don't believe it." Come here, you little biped. Come here, you little wormy-worm! Come to Uncle Sid." He called.

The baby smiled as he reached out to him. Suddenly, he changed his mind and turned away from the sloth.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. This way. This way." Sid called.

As the baby came towards the sabers, Tora felt guilt overwhelm her. A cubs first steps were special and should be witnessed by their parents. Tora couldn't help but remember the baby's mother leaping off the waterfall to save them and her eyes softened at the baby. Diego pushed himself up to avoid the baby.

"No, no, no. No, go to him. Go to him."

he motioned towards Manny and Sid.

The baby fell onto Tora's paw and smiled up at her. Pity welled in her and a maternal instinct took over as she gently nuzzled the child and pushed him back to his feet. She felt the eyes of the males on her and cleared her throat.

"OK. Good job. Keep practicin'." She said, awkwardly pushing the baby away.

As the baby made his way back to Manny, Sid smiled. "Look at that. Our little guy is growing up."

The baby sneezed, breaking his concentration, and fell. "All right, come on. Sleep time, lumpy." Manny said, grabbing the baby gently and curling his trunk around him.

"Look at that big pushover." Sid smiled at Manny. "You know, Diego, I've never had a friend who would risk his life for me."

"Yeah, Manny's... he's a good guy." Diego agreed as he settled down beside his sister.

"Yeah, he is. Well, good night." Sid yawned, falling back onto the snow.

Guilt continued to haunt Tora as she glanced at Diego. He was staring at half peak and she could tell it hit him too.

"Diego?" She nudged him but he simply shook his head. He looked away and she lay her head on top of his shoulders and closed her eyes.

Timeskip

The mammals left the overhang early the next morning and walked towards Half Peak.

"Let's get you all cleaned up. What's your daddy gonna say if you go back all stinky?" Sid asked, licking his claws. "Let me just clean that up. That looks good. A little bit here." He carefully tried to 'clean' the baby's face.

"You clean up nice, little fella." Manny pulled Sids paw away gently.

"I think he's starting to look like me." Sid smiled, examining the baby's face. "Diego, Tora, what do you think?"

"Maybe we shouldn't do this." Diego contemplated, pausing in his steps.

"Why not?"

"If we save him, he'll be a hunter. And who do you think he'll hunt?" Diego said as he watched the baby.

"Maybe because we save him, he won't hunt us." Sid smiled hopefully.

"Yeah, and maybe he'll grow fur and a long skinny neck and call you Mama." Tora snapped.

"What's the problem with you two?" Manny question.

"Nothing. Let's go. I'm freezing my tail off." Diego sighed.

As they continued to walk, the sabers began to feel eyes watching them. Diego nudged Tora and their eyes looked up to see a pack member, they couldn't tell which one, turn around from the edge.

"Diego, Tora. You frozen back there?"

Manny called.

"Diego? What's the plan?" She question softly. Diego shook his head and darted forward.

"Get down." He hissed desperately, stopping Manny and Sid under one of the peaks.

"What?" The two questioned in surprise.

"Get down and follow us." Tora hissed.

"What's goin' on?" Sid asked, clutching the baby tighter.

The sabers exchanged a glance before Diego spoke. "At the bottom of Half Peak, there's an ambush waiting for you."

"What?" Sid gasped as Manny stared at the sabers. "What do you mean, "ambush"?" Suddenly, recognition dawned in Manny and he glared at the sabers. "You set us up."

"It was our job. We were to get the baby, but then…" Tora trailed off and Manny snarled.

"You brought us home for dinner."

"That's it. You two are out of the herd." Sid snapped.

"We're sorry." Diego cried.

"No, you're not. Not yet." Manny threatened, slamming the two sabers against the wall with his tusks.

"Listen, I can help you!" Diego desperately offered.

"Stay close, Sid. We can fight our way out." Manny hissed.

"You can't. The pack's too strong. You have to trust us!" Tora cried desperately.

"Trust you? Why in the world would we trust you two?" Manny snarled.

"Because we are your only chance." Diego whispered.

Timeskip

The sabers carefully drew closer to the pack. Tora went over the plan carefully in her head. Sid and Manny were in position but Tora also had a part to play. Diego had realized that Soto would most likely expect Tora to want to leave and be watching her carefully. The plan was for Tora to act as though she was in love with Soto, despite how much it sickened her. Tora let herself fall behind a little to allow him to deal with Soto.

"Hello, ladies." Diego called as he stepped onto the rock and out of the snow.

"Look who decided to show up." Oscar taunted.

"Diego, I was beginning to worry about you." Soto smirked.

"No need to worry. In about two minutes you'll be satisfying your taste for revenge." Diego informed him.

"Very nice." Soto said as Tora bounded up to him.

"Soto!" She called as she leapt onto the rock and nuzzled him.

She felt bile rising in her throat as he paused, and then purred.

"Well, well! What brought this on?"

"I missed you." She whispered, trying desperately to keep calm.

Soto smirked and pressed his fur against hers. "You won't be missing me for long." He whispered in her ear before moving away from her, giving her time to gag silently.

"I see the sloth. And he's got the baby!" Zeke cried.

"Don't give away your positions until you see the mammoth. He's the one to surprise." Soto growled.

"You want to maul something, don't you Zeke?" Diego mumbled.

"I wanna maul." He agreed.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Diego smirked.

Zeke took off running, leading the others with him as Soto snarled. "No, I said wait for the mammoth."

Diego shrugged innocently as Sid continued to lead the others away. Soto leapt off the rock and followed the rest of the pack. Tora and Diego slipped away to meet Manny.

"Surprise!" He called as he hit Lenny, Zeke, and Oscar off the small cliff with a log.

"OK, follow me. We'll pick up Sid and get outta here while we can." Diego called and started to turn away.

Suddenly, Soto appeared around the on, Diego, Tora, let's bring this mammoth down."

The sabers stalked forward and Manny was pressed against the wall. Suddenly, Diego turned in front of Soto while Yora remained at his side. "What are you doing?" Soto snapped.

"Leave the mammoth alone." Diego snarled.

Suddenly, Lenny and Oscar appeared behind Soto. "Fine. I'll take you down first."

Tora leapt onto Soto, rolling him away from her brother. As he righted himself, she joined Diego and snarled at the alpha. Soto circled around Diego before jumping on top of him and rolling him in the snow. Diego swiped his claws on Sotos cheek and caused him to pause.

Manny tried to start forward but Lenny and Oscar stopped him. Tora raced to Manny's side, trusting her brother to handle himself, and began swiping at her former packmates. Lenny leapt onto Manny and as Oscar took a swipe at Manny, Tora clawed at his eye, causing him to back off.

Tora heard a thump and gasped as Diego hit a rock. Thankfully, she could see his chest rising and falling as Soto turned towards Manny. The two males switched tactics and pushed Tora against the wall as Soto did the same to Manny. The mammoth desperately swiped at Soto but to no avail. Soto leapt, only to have his claws meet Diego instead of his intended prey. "No!" Tora screamed as her brother fell hard into the snow.

Sid came around the corner just as Soto was about to swipe Diego's neck and the baby gurgled happily. Soto paused and his eyes moved to the baby as Sid clapped his paw over its mouth. Before Soto could move, Manny hit him and launched him against the wall with his tusks. The icicles above him clinked before falling and piercing his chest.

The remaining pack members winced and backed away from Tora. Manny growled and they took off running. Instantly, Tora was by her brother's side, desperately licking the wound, attempting to stop the blood that spilled onto the snow.

"We did it." Sid cried happily before his eyes drifted to the sabers.

"We were some team, huh?" Diego chuckled dryly as Tora gave up on his side and simply lay by his head.

"Were? Come on, we're still a team." Manny said quietly.

"I'm sorry I set you up." He apologized

"You know me. I'm too lazy to hold a grudge." Sid tried desperately to joke.

Sid let the baby down carefully and he petted Diego's face with small noises.

"Knock it off, squirt. You gotta be strong. You have to take care of Manfred and Tora and Sid. Especially Sid." Diego told him as Tora tearfully laughed.

"Come on, you can lick this. You're a tiger. Look, I'll carry you. Come on, what do you say? Come on, Diego, come on. Tell him he's going to be OK, Manny." Sid cried desperately.

"Listen, you have to leave me here. If those humans get through the pass, you'll never catch them." Diego said, and suddenly Tora broke her silence.

"Diego! We can't leave you. You are all I have left." There were tears welling in her eyes as she nudged her brother, which surprised the mammoth and sloth who had never thought they would see a tiger cry.

Diego shook his head as sighed. "You'll be fine Tor. You can go and live your life without Soto. It will be just like we talked about."

A bitter laugh worked its way out of her throat as tears dropped onto the snow. "When we talked you said you'd be with me." She buried her face in his fur and whispered, "You said you'd come with me! You promised!" Manny and Sid suddenly felt as though they were intruding on a private moment between the two.

Diego sighed and moved his head, moving her face so she could see him. "You have Manny and Sid now. You won't be alone." He said and he locked eyes with Manny. The silent message passed between them as Diego asked him to take care of his sister.

"You didn't have to do that." Manny said.

"That's what you do in a herd." Diego informed him with a pained smile before laying his head down once more.

Tora licked his cheek tenderly before rubbing her cheek on him and the rock that he lay beside, leaving the family scent mark. They sat in silence for a while before Manny gently led her away, tears still wetting her cheeks. The snow soon covered the sight of her brother but Tora desperately hung onto the scent that clung to her own fur. She didn't care if she seemed weak anymore. The only family she had left, was gone.

 **Okay, obviously you know what happens. Or maybe I changed the ending! Mwahahaha! No jk, I could never. Anyway, review! No chapter preview because the next chapter is going to be really short.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: it's the last chapter and I'm tired. Check the others to see the message.**

 **Sorry this is late and short but it's the last chapter and I was stressed this week (I almost passed out at one point).**

 **Anyway, question time! I have already decided Tora is going to have a mate (most likely he's simply going to be in ice Age 4 because that's easiest) but I need help. In the comments, vote on the choices below.**

 **Fur color: black or white fur (right now it's black)**

 **Name: Zane or Other (tell me other)**

 **Word count: 865**

The mammals walked silently and quickly. The snow had piled up but they reached glacier pass fast enough. Tora was sullen and silent with her head bowed as they walked. Even Sid knew better than to talk, even though he tried at first. By the end of the walk he was walking beside Tora, occasionally falling in the snow (sometimes purposefully) which made her lift her head and at one point smile, which was enough for Sid.

They reached the pass and Toras nostrils filled with the smell of humans. Before they came over the hill, she stopped and rolled in the snow to hide her fur some. They came over the hill to see the baby's father and she immediately lay down in the snow, mostly hidden, because she doubted he would like to see a saber. He pointed his spear at her but when Manny reached for the baby, he changed it to him.

Manny gently grabbed the spear and threw it away from the human. As he reached again, the wolves started barking, alerting the other humans of their presence. Tora tensed as Manny brought the baby over his head. The father's eyes widened with surprise and he held out his hands to stop to others in his pack from advancing.

Manny placed the baby on his feet in the snow as Sid fell back. The baby waddled awkwardly to his father who picked him up and hugged him. Tora couldn't help but smile as the baby cooed.

The animals turned to walk away as the baby cried out and reached for them. They stopped and turned back to watch him. The father hesitated and glanced at Tora before placing the baby on the ground. The baby walked up to the sloth who picked him up. Tora nuzzled him in the sloths arms with a smile.

"My brother actually liked you squirt. Even if he wouldn't admit it." She whispered to him.

"Don't forget about us. OK?" Sid asked before Manny took the baby.

"We won't forget about you." Manny promised.

The baby was handed back to his father who smiled. The father placed the necklace that Diego had torn off the mother on the first day on Manny's tusk before the humans turned to leave. Manny smiled and saw Tora staring at the necklace with her eyes glittering. He let it slip into the snow at her feet and she carefully picked it up.

"Goodbye." Sid called. "Goodbye. Goodbye."

"Sid…" Manny attempted to stop him but the sloth seemed selectively deaf.

"Bye! Bye!" He called again.

He baby covered his eyes before moving his hand again. "That's right. Where's the baby?" Sid called and Tora smiled.

"Come on, Sid, let's head south." Manny said, turning to leave.

Tora felt him stop and she turned around to see Diego limping to the top of the bluff. Her eyes lit up and she dropped the necklace as she raced up the hill, spraying snow behind her. She practically tackled her brother as she licked his face gently and nuzzled him.

"You're alive!" She whispered happily.

Diego smiled at her as he straightened himself, obviously weak from the walk. "I said I'd go with you didn't I? What kind of brother would I be if I broke a promise?"

"Bye." Sid yelled again.

"Save your breath, Sid. You know humans can't talk." Diego chuckled.

"Diego? You're OK!" Sid raced towards him.

"Nine lives, baby." Diego laughed

"You're OK. You're OK." Sid tackled Diego in the snow and hit his shoulder, causing him to hiss. "I could kiss ya!" Sid kissed Diego on the head as Tora laughed before he pretended to puke.

"Welcome back, partner. Wanna lift?" Manny offered.

"No thanks. I gotta save whatever dignity I've got left." Diego glanced at his sister who was still grinning widely.

" You're hanging out with us. Dignity's got nothing to do with it. I'll take that lift." Sid laughed, looking up at Manny.

"Yeah, climb aboard."

Pick me up, buddy. Mush." Manny glared at Sid who cringed. "Or not mush. Either way. This is gonna be the best migration ever. I'll show you my favorite watering holes. I turn brown when the fungus in my fur dries." Sid rambled.

"Attractive." Tora mumbled before she paused and returned to grab the necklace before walking at her brother's side, silently supporting him. He leaned on her shoulder a little and glanced at the necklace but didn't question it.

"This whole Ice age thing is getting old. You know what I could go for? Global warming." Sid said as the continued walking.

"Keep dreamin'." Manny laughed.

"No, really…" Sid tried to defend himself.

Tora smiled at the sloths antics as they continued to walk south, towards the migrations. That night, Diego helped her slip the necklace over her head so that she didn't have to carry it. It was practically hidden in her fur but she didn't mind it. She slept beside her brother that night, not wanting to hurt his shoulder, but she pressed against his side. In her sleep, the sister smiled. This was where she belonged. In a strange herd that had quickly become her family.

 **Okay guys! That was the last of this story! I will be continuing through the other movies so be sure to check back for when I post them!**


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